Nothing is Certain

I'm still loving author Anna McPartlin, but I didn't enjoy As Sure As the Sun nearly as much as I'd have liked to. I think because it was borderline mystery it didn't appeal to me as much. I still love the author though and her writing style. And to be able to come up with this storyline was pretty amazing. It just was too mystery novel and unrealistic for me I guess.

Current Read: Apart from the Crowd by Anna McPartlin

For My Girls

The Girls From Ames has been on my to read list for much too long. I'm so glad I finally read it. The amazing story told by Jeffrey Zaslow really hit home for me. The true story is of 11 girls who stayed friends from high school. The "girls" are now in their 40s and the book highlights moments throughout their lives.

I enjoyed reading the story and the hope it provided that my own little group can survive too. Their group has had falling outs and their fair share of sorrow but there has also been much joy. They have experienced lost, sadly one of the 11 passed away in their 20s and another's daughter passed away. There have been illnesses, two have battled breast cancer. But they each have 9 other people they can count on through the divorces, losses, and pain. It was amazing for me to read and was a constant reminder of my girls.

I feel so fortunate to have left high school with 4 of the most amazing women I know. This book showed me that its okay to love all of my friends differently but equally. I love my college friends and the new friends I have made in ways that are very different from the bond I have with my girls. It isn't a more or less, it is just different. The Ames girls describe this much better than I am.

In any case, I feel truly fortunate to have each of my friends in my life. We will go through our ups and downs as we have always but no matter what at the end of the day when you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to laugh and giggle with over nothing, there is always someone to count on.

The story of the Ames girls made me take some time to reflect on the GPCDHE that has been so important to me. It had me look at the other friendships in my life as well. The memories bring so much emotion but for the first time in a long time, they also brought a sense of peace that though a lot was wrong, so much stayed right.

This entry may not make a lot of sense as my thoughts are a bit jumbled but for anyone out there that has a special group of friends or feels as fortunate I do to have people like the GPCDHE, my boo, my wife, MP, and dear old friends I don't see nearly as much I'd like to, you will enjoy this read I promise!

Optimism

I have always admired actor Michael J Fox. I grew up watching the reruns of Family Ties and there was always just something special about him. I was so sad years ago to learn of his Parkinson's diagnosis. My grandmother died with Parkinson's and I saw firsthand what a terrible illness this is. Fox could have given up his place in the acting world and sunk away to deal with his illness on his own with this family. Instead he has created a foundation and advocated for a cure.

Always Looking Up is his most recent book. I enjoyed the divisions in the book with each section being written about certain parts of his life. The central theme of a hope for a cure ties each piece of the book together. I'm curious now to read some of his other books so they've been added to my never ending list.

Lastly, Fox's current family dog is named Daisy... This made me smile big time...

Heart

What originally drew me to author Emily Giffin's books were the covers. I'm well aware you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover and all but they were just so simple and cute. I read her first three books over the same weekend and now I read her new ones as they come out. I didn't even know she had a new one out but happened to chance on it at the library and then in a sleepless insomniac night, finished it in one read.

I found Heart of the Matter to be different then what I'm used to getting with this author. Different in a good way. It seemed to me that the author has grown a bit as a writer. I enjoyed the lessened fairy tale details that are usually tucked into the pages of her books. I always find the books to be quick reads and a nice escape. This time I enjoyed escaping into a bit more of a realistic picture but still an escape.

Seattle/Portland Column

Before I left on my long vacation I picked up a stack of books at the library. I happened to find Savage Love by Dan Savage on display somewhere along the way to picking up my reserves. I thought it looked cute and that maybe it would be a book that the girls and I would read in the car at random. I ended up not having room for it in my suitcase (oops) so it never made the long journey with us. I thought it was kinda cool though after the fact that Savage's column is in the paper out on the west coast where we had just been. The books slightly outdated but the information is mostly still accurate I'd say.

Savage is a gay man giving sex/love/relationship advice in a newspaper column. I'd never heard of him before and while I don't think he has all the answers, I like his writing style and his witty responses. The book is worth even just browsing through to get a few laughs.

Can Anybody Hear Me

I've always liked actress Marlee Matlin so when I saw she had written a book about herself I was curious enough to add it to my list. Marlee is deaf and though I am not deaf I am hearing impaired and I've always sort of floated between the deaf community and the hearing community, yet another place in my life where I'm stuck in the middle.

I've always sort of viewed Matlin as this deaf actress and commended her for whatever it took for her to get where she is today. I never knew that half of it. I had no idea she had an addiction problem and the many more obstacles she faced. I'll Scream Later shares her story and keeps readers interested with the hopeful and inspiring message she provides.

My one and only complaint about the book is that it reads a bit like a resume in the sense that Matlin takes readers through each of her jobs and why she took them and information that just didn't always flow. Other than the star resume hidden within the pages, I enjoyed finding out more about a person I've always admired.

Luna

You'll have to forgive me that these entries are a bit out of order because I keep having to go back and check my book list. I'm working on the whole not being perfect thing though so I'm not fixing it. Pack up the Moon by Anna McPartlin is the book I read on the return trip. Loved this book. It had me laughing, had me with tears in my eyes, and had me hoping it would never end and wanting to get to the end all at the same time. It had a few similarities to P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern but I may have just read that into it. Plus overall it was very different and so very much so its own book.

The story's main character is a young women who loses the love of her life tragically. The story shares how their group of friends pick up the pieces and how she moves on in her life. The individual characters are each interesting and as a reader I wanted to continue to hear their stories as much as the main characters. The end of the novel (no I am not spoiling it this time, it's worth reading on your own!) also shocked me in a good way. At the very end of the edition I had there was a Q & A with the author which allowed me as a first time reader of hers to get to know her better.

I love this author and will happily add more of her books to my list.

90210

I can't really explain why I like Tori Spelling but I just do. I like her reality show and I've actually enjoyed her books. I guess to me for someone who grew up so "privileged" she just seems pretty down to earth. Maybe I'm being played but she seems genuine.

Uncharted TerriTORI is her third book. I have to say I enjoyed it. My one and only complaint would be that it followed much too closely to the last season of her show. I knew what was coming next. That said there were some behind the scenes or added stories that didn't disappoint. Oh and I really don't like the cover, it's a bit creepy. Wait and also I wish they would stop throwing TORI in the titles in some cutsey spin, it was okay the first time but we get it now, enough. Other than that, fast easy read and good to see mending of some relationships. Not sure why the rest of the 90210 cast seems to hate her and it would be interesting to get some of that gossip haha.

more romance

Read book three of the Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts Savor the Moment. Cute, predictable, have to finish the series cause I'm weird like that but theres really nothing great about the books. Nothing terrible but just cute fluffy story lines with an ending you know is going to happen. And also spoiler alert do not continue if you plan to read this series...

The four friends own a wedding venue where they host weddings and each of them provides something for it, business management, flowers, cakes, and photography. Thats great but the fact that each of them is single to begin the series but by the end is going to be happily engaged or married (fourth one is out in November) is just to unrealistic for a realist like me.

I do enjoy the escape though into fantasy romance land I suppose, otherwise I would stop reading and getting so upset at knowing this could never really happen.

Thin?

The idea of ending dieting and all the body hatred and forgetting about the pounds is... well it's a dream come true for all women no? So I was very intrigued by Valerie Frankel's book Thin is the New Happy (side note: I don't think I've linked to Fantastic Fiction before and want to take a moment to talk about how awesome this site is. It really lives up to it's name and it's a not so secret reference tool librarians are using all the time!)

Frankel describes her decision to give up the weight war and just eat when shes hungry stop when she isn't and forget about the numbers on the scale. And get this, she loses weight! She gains confidence and style! She inspires!

I don't really want to go on and on about this book but it was pretty awesome. The reader is certainly able to relate to the story. It's not a sad depressing woe is me and weight war kind of story though, there is a lot of humor and hope woven in. I absolutely loved listening to it!

Cover with a Dog

A few days after my birthday last month I left on an amazing journey with two of my best friends. We traveled far far away and spent two weeks in a car with each other without causing any harm. Two weeks of laughter was just the stress relief I needed. This is also partly why entries are a bit behind. When I first packed my suitcase I had 18 books with me (yes 18!). Then I narrowed it down to 11 (only so I could take more shoes!). Final count was 6 (although I didn't have a carry on so it could have been less and I was not to know, thanks C!) My mom (silly sometimes) assumed I would need some reading for my trip so she was kind enough to buy my a book for my birthday. I'm fairly certain she didn't mean to pick up a borderline romance novel such as Stay by Allie Larkin, but it had a dog on the cover and it was blue so I'm fairly certain it was entirely judging a book by its cover.

Flash forward to plane ride one (before all that driving we had to fly far away) silly me didn't bother to get a book out of the shared carry on. What was I thinking? By flight two (though I mostly slept on flight one since it was much too early) I was craving a book in a serious way. I was in the middle so I asked one of my awesome travel partners to go grab a book out of the carry on for me and when asked which one I said ANY! probably a bit too harshly. Stay is what what was returned to me.

Though it was a bit too borderline romance novel for me (nothing against them, just not my cup of tea), it was the perfect plane/vacation book. A cute love story with a dog that plays match maker. It also featured a friends wedding, which was the main reason for our trip. The story was predictable and very cutesy but definitely a relaxing light read which is the perfect way to start a vacation!

Generations

Three Women by Marge Piercy is a novel told from three characters in the same family spanning 3 generations. The story is told through the eyes of Beverly (grandmother), Suzanne (mother), and Elena (daughter). The women share their family stories from past and present. Each character is unique and I loved that grandmother and granddaughter had so much in common, more so than the mother and daughter pairs.

I can't say I didn't enjoy parts of the book or that I regret reading the book, but it didn't really live up to my expectation. The storyline sounded much more interesting that it actually became. It was more of a leisure read too where I didn't really care if I finished it but I wanted to finish it to move on on my list.

The concept was great, but the book fell a little short on delivery. That said I've never read anything by this author before and I would definitely give her another shot.

SATC

I read The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell with a bit of hesitation. I have to say that though I love the TV show Sex and the City, I tried many times to read the book and failed. The book just didn't appeal to me for whatever reason. That being said I wanted to read The Carrie Diaries and decided if I didn't like it I'd just put it down like I had all those times with The Sex and City novel.

Instead of hating it though, I loved it. It worked because it fit right with the Carrie character. There was a flow to it that you could see that yes this could have been her adolescence and how she turned into a writer and moved to New York and met these other girls.

I was hurrying through the book to get to the ending but also not wanting it to end at all because it was so good. To me this is the sign of a good read.